My Heart's Descent
by lionessXofXdreams
Summary: The members of the Organization are, well, flabbergasted at their newest member. Not only is she NOT brought in as No. XIII as she should have been, but she also isn't very Nobody-like. One would almost say she's still alive. In fact, most of the Organization argues that she IS still alive. Who is she? WHAT is she? And what connection does she have with Kingdom Hearts?
1. Life

**A/N: Hello everyone! While this is not my first fanfic, it is my first published fanfic, and I'm excited yet terrified of your responses. Regardless, I want reviews, please and thank you. **

**Because Kingdom Hearts is such a big part of my life, I decided that it should take the honor of having the title of "First Published Fanfic." And I've been designing this OC for years. It's great to finally see her in fruition. **

**The inspiration for the title of this fic is from the Kingdom Hearts theme "My Heart's Descent" which is basically a newer version of the "End of the World" theme. I highly recommend you listen to it while reading this, it really sets the mood. You could listen to "End of the World" while reading this as well. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I have the sole rights to my OC and ****only**** my OC. KH and everything therein is not mine. Duh.**

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1. Life

Her life had come to an end. She no longer had a heart. She was technically dead. An empty shell. A reminder of what she had been.

Her name had been Dezareé. She had long brown hair, indigo eyes, and a fiery temperament. She was from Andaluxia, a place of light. Light had been etched into her very being, marked by an angel even at a young age.

She was a creature of darkness. She had no fear of it. It was her friend, ally, comrade in arms, just as the light was. It was why she had been so powerful, having both light and darkness. It was a balance that allowed her to be in control of both.

But that was all changed now, except maybe her physical features.

When she came to, she was on a shore. The smell of the ocean was comforting. But it was dark, where she was. The only light was distant glow that lit up the cragged rock figures so that one could just see they were there. But she wasn't human. The light was enough for her to see each and every detail of those rocks.

She stood. The sand beneath her feet was rough and coarse, but felt nice against her feet. She walked forward until the cold water of the ocean came to her ankles, lapping gently. The water was refreshing in its chill. She sighed and stared into the distant glow, letting her mind wander. She wondered where she was, and realized that she was in the realm of darkness.

She was comfortable, but not content. She wasn't anything. She could remember how to feel, but couldn't feel. It would've been irritating if she could feel irritated.

The sound of the deeper darkness opening called her attention. She looked to the source on her left. A cloaked figure emerged from the darkness. The only discernible features were the details of the cloak and that the figure was a man as the cloak clinged to the torso. The hood shrouded the face completely. His shoulders and chest were broad and he stood tall.

He stopped when he noticed her presence. They stared. She could feel his gaze: it was heavy and intense. She could tell he was contemplative, watching to see what she would do, just as she was to him.

She suspected he frequented this place. Her being here was probably strange. Maybe he came to meet someone, maybe to be alone.

Finished with her analysis, she turned to watch the glow once more. Only a moment later, she heard footfall on the sand as the man continued forward behind her. He came to sit on a rock figure; she could hear that much.

They watched the glow together for what seemed a long time.

Finally, without turning, she spoke.

"Do you dwell here?"

The man answered with silence. She could feel his stare once again, and turned to look at him.

"What are you?" she asked, staring directly into the darkness of the hood. She asked this because, while he had a full stare, his presence was empty. Like the way she felt. It had a certain darkness to it, but it was hollow. There was a faint flutter of a heart, but that, too, was hollow. She had this as well, though her heart was different from his.

The man didn't answer. So, she changed her tactic.

"Who are you?" she asked. And waited. She sensed that he would answer this time. After a long, thoughtful moment, he answered in a deep timbre.

"A better question is: who are you?"

She stared at him for a moment, then smiled a wry smile, "You're right. Who am I? I'm not the person I once was. Tell me, do you know where my heart is?" She knew _exactly_ where her heart was. But he didn't need to know as such.

Slowly, the man shook his head.

"I was once a person named Dezareé, that much I know. I don't know anything else. Except where I am, of course. Do you remember who you were?"

She got her expected answer: Silence.

She sighed. "I thought as much.," The silence was not awkward. How could it be, when neither had hearts to _feel_ such a thing? Comfort had become a concept that was foreign to them. Silence was now a state of being in which they both participated.

The girl stood in the water while it lapped at her ankles and the cloaked man sat watching the glow.

She could feel his eyes watching her. He was probably noticing how different she was from himself. She could tell that she was the same as him in the fact that they were both missing something vital to being alive. But her species was different from his entirely.

Her thoughts shifted to her location. She knew where she was, but she didn't know how long she had been there before awakening. There was also the issue of how she appeared in the Dark Margin in the first place. She should have awoken in her own world, or in a world that acted as a safeguard for those that have lost their worlds. She didn't understand why the darkness would bring her—wait, yes she did. Her proof was sitting behind her.

A thought came to her out of the blue. "I wonder if I'll stay here forever," she mused quietly, but not quietly enough that the cloaked man couldn't hear. She knew she was opening up an opportunity for him, and she knew he would take it.

"Not if you come with me," he said.

She turned to look at him, expression incredulous, though she knew he would take the bait.

He stood and held out a hand toward her.

"Come. I can give you purpose," he said and she narrowed her eyes.

"I like the sound of that: purpose. But what purpose will you give me?"

"You will fight, and offer your strength toward the completion of Kingdom Hearts,"

"Fight," she murmured. "I did a lot of that while I was alive," she trailed off, looking to the glow at the edge of the horizon. Her eyes met the darkness of his hood once more.

"I will go with you, but I have conditions," she said, and the man nodded for her to continue. "I won't kill humans. Or harm them. You're not allowed to come up with loopholes either," she said, and she could almost feel him smirking, "And I need freedom to do what I want and when I want. I'll do assignments, but I need leisure time to myself to do whatever I please. I will not interfere with your plans if you do not interfere with mine. And before I continue, I must let you know that I am not a human's Nobody. I am something else ent—"

"I am well aware of what you are," the cloaked man said in his deep timbre.

She looked mildly surprised at him for a moment. "Oh. Well in that case, no one can know what I am until they are ready to know. Do we have a deal?"

"What makes you think you are in a position to make any demands?" he asked her in a challenging tone.

The girl smirked. "Your desire to have me on your team is so strong it's nearly tangible. I can feel it from here,"

At that, the man laughed a deep, throaty chuckle. "Very well," he said as he approached her. She turned to face him.

"You who has lost your heart, shall be given a new name," he said as he waved his hand in front of her. Her former name appeared in glowing letters, surprising her. He waved his hand again and the letters spun around her in a blinding flurry. Suddenly, the man moved his hand in a pressing motion toward the flurry and an X appeared in between the letters of her name.

She read it backwards: Eredexza. That was her new name. She liked it. It was probably the best sounding name that could be possibly made with the letters given.

"And you will be Number zero among us," said the man.

"Number zero? How many of you are there?" she asked as her name faded into the darkness.

"Twelve. Now, thirteen," he said.

She tilted her head to the side. _Why zero and not thirteen?_

So she was an official member now. She didn't know what to think about that.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"My name is of no importance," he said as he began to turn away, expecting her to follow.

"Liar," she said softly and he froze. She walked toward him slowly and he inclined to face her. "What is your name?" she repeated.

There was a long pause before the man lifted his arms to his hood and slowly pulled it down. What she saw, surprised her: he was incredibly handsome. Gorgeous, even. And also incredibly young. He was still a full-grown man, of course, but his physical age couldn't be any older than twenty-seven. He had darkly tanned skin, long silver hair, amber eyes and full lips. His face was angular and sharp and masculine. She could see his pointed ears behind his hair. And that _voice_? It was a wonder he was still single.

She almost laughed at herself. It was such a Somebody thing to think.

"My name is Xemnas," he finally said.

_Xemnas_. She liked it. It was powerful, yet, eloquent. She doubted it had an actual meaning for it was probably an anagram from a different name, much like Eredexza was an anagram for Dezareé.

She smiled a small at him, but he only stared, completely stoic and emotionless. She didn't let her smile drop. He motioned his head to follow him before he turned and manifested the darkness. It opened in a smoking oval like a three-dimensional ovular doorway.

And he walked through with his newest member, No. 0, Eredexza, trailing behind him like the darkness he had opened.

**I know most of you don't read the A/N's, but whatever. I hope you liked this chapter. I have no idea when the next one is coming out, but I will work on getting a set schedule in the works. **

**Till next time!**


	2. The Castle

**A/N So, here is chapter 2. . . FINALLY. Took me forever to write this. And for future reference, Eredexza is pronounced how it is spelled: Eh-reh-dex-sah. The "z" sound naturally turns into an "s" sound behind the "x." No worries, she _will_ be given an nickname.**

**I highly recommend listening to "Sacred Moon" from the KH soundtrack to help set the mood while reading this. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

******Disclaimer: I have the sole rights to my OC and ****only**** my OC. KH and everything therein is not mine. Duh.**

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2. The Castle

The Darkness of the Realm was twitchy. It was excited and reeling with energy. The more Eredexza studied it, the more she realized it was because it was reacting to her own dark energy. It was strange. The darkness didn't usually react to her as such. She wondered if it was because she no longer had a heart. Her own Darkness was restless and it kept waiting for her to command it to do something. But she didn't know what she wanted it to do. While she was alive, she always wanted it with her, to act as a seventh sense.

But if she wished to merge with it again, it might set off her inner demon without a heart to control it. Briefly, she wondered if her inner demon was still there. She check— Yes, it was there. It was most definitely there. And without a heart to control it, keeping it back was going to be harder than ever. Now that she was focusing on it, her inner demon was roiling inside her. She focused on clamping it down before her new superior noticed a spike in dark energy.

She couldn't tell if he did or not. He just kept walking.

Finally, they arrived at the end of their path and walked through the opened portal.

It was a grand hallway. The walls were lined with columns and the ceiling was magnanimously high and it was entirely white. There were some intricate designs along the walls and floor. She didn't have much time before Xemnas led her down the hall and to stairs that were on the outside walls of a giant castle.

"What is this place called?" she asked as she observed her surroundings.

"This is Naught's Approach of the Castle That Never Was," he answered without turning around. Eredexza raised a brow skeptically. Those were kind of depressing names. But then, she was walking through a castle that wasn't supposed to exist. The whole idea of the place was kind of depressing.

Xemnas led her through a series of rooms, most of them grand with great open spaces and lots of strange columns.

Finally they came to a stop. It was a foyer of some some sort. It was a vast room with a wide expanse of window behind an intricately designed hanging podium box, letting the light of the heart-shaped moon light the room. The platform on ground level was held by two walkways over a great void, abyss, chasm, whatever one wished to call it. All she knew was that it was deep and dark.

"The Hall of Empty Melodies," Xemnas answered her growing curiosity. She frowned at the gloomy name, but otherwise didn't respond.

Another figure approached them from the hall of the other walkway wearing the same cloak as the Superior. He was more slender than Xemnas, and looked older with an eye patch over his right eye, a large scar trailing up his left cheek and a more weathered complexion. His only visible eye was a bright yellow, his ears were pointed and his long black hair was tied back low and had gray along the top of his head.

"Xigbar," Xemnas started, "We have a new member among our ranks." His deep voice reverberated across the hall.

"I can see that," the Nobody she figured was named "Xigbar" responded flippantly. She watched as he approached, his good eye trailed over her apparel: a small, wrinkled t-shirt that hung loosely from her frame, elastic short-shorts, bare feet, wildly waving hair, and vibrant, dark-blue eyes. His eye remained on hers for a moment, a smirk etched on his face, but a contemplative, almost friendly one. "So, we finally have our thirteenth member?" he asked, looking back to his superior.

"Not exactly," Xemnas replied. Xigbar's eyebrows quirked and his smirk almost turned into a grimace of confusion. "She will not be Number Thirteen as she is different from a true Nobody. Instead, she will be Number Zero among us."

"Number Zero, huh? Why not just make her Number Negative-One while we're at it?" Xigbar joked and Xemnas raised a brow and leveled his stare. Xigbar just chuckled. "Whatever. It's up to you anyway. What did you name her?" His eye glanced back at her, who seemed to be docilely listening to their conversation, her eyes traveling back and forth between the two men.

"Her name is Eredexza."

At this, Xigbar started laughing. "How in the world did you come up with that?" He said between chuckles. "What kinda name did you have before he found you?" He teased her, before patting her head. "You need a nickname. No worries, though, I've got ya covered."

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. He seemed incredibly friendly for someone without a heart. Or maybe he was compensating. She looked to Xemnas to see if that was normal. He was watching her curiously, so she assumed that this was normal behavior, considering he didn't pay it any mind.

"I will take her to her quarters. Get her a cloak and meet me there," Xemnas commanded.

"Sure, sure." Xigbar summoned a Dark Corridor around him and disappeared with the darkness.

"Come," Xemnas ordered and turned to continue the way they had been going. Eredexza followed him down the many corridors until they finally came to a wide, curved hallway with a long set of doors. Xemnas led her down the corridor to one of the last two doors of fifteen that she counted. Xemnas opened the door and stepped aside to let her enter.

It was a decently sized room, bright white labeled with the trademark designs of the castle along the walls. The bed had the Nobody insignia at the head with an all-white bedspread facing the one large window that looked out over the side of the hovering castle. From where she was standing, she could make out the bottom tip of the heart-shaped moon. Off to the side was a closet, a small one by the looks of it, but there was no washroom.

She looked to Xemnas who had just stepped in and stood to the side of the open doorway. She nodded her consent and he nodded his acknowledgement. Not a moment later, Xigbar arrived with a cloak in one hand, boots in the other. He tossed the cloak to her and she caught it easily.

"That should fit you. You're about Larxene's size, maybe a little bigger." He set the heeled boots down by the end of her bed. Eredexza vaguely wondered who Larxene was, and held up the cloak by the shoulders to inspect it. From the bottom came other pieces to the cloak. She glanced at them before looking at the outer garment. It looked like what the other two wore, but had a feminine cut and lines.

"Thank you," she said, eyes shifting between the two men.

"Oh," Xigbar drawled out. "Vocal already? You really _are_ different, aren't you?" He said, smirking.

A smirk of her own found its way to her lips. "I'm guessing _normal_ Nobodies have little to say when they're newly made." She hung her cloak over her arm.

Xigbar started sniggering, but Xemnas spoke first. "Most new Nobodies are not fully formed beings. We elite few do not have much to say upon awakening."

Xigbar chuckled twice. "Which either means two things: One, that you were awake for a while before Xemnas found you, or your memories found you a lot faster than normal. Considering the fact that Xemnas wanted you as Number Zero, I'm guessing it's the latter of the two." He looked over to Xemnas who nodded, then turned to address Xigbar.

"Tell Saïx to send the members to the Round Room after they get back from their missions. We will introduce her to them there." Xemnas turned to her. "Get cleaned up and dressed. I'll send Saïx to get you when you're finished."

With that, he turned and left. She heard the Dark Corridor opening and closing, signaling his departure.

"The washroom is down the hall a bit and to your right. You can't miss it." Xigbar regarded her now with a severity that was almost chilling. He didn't smile; he almost glared, almost as if he were intent on figuring out who or what she was. It only lasted a moment before he walked away and down the hall in the opposite direction of where he pointed, back the way she had come.

She frowned at where he had just stood. It seemed Nobodies were more capable of expressing emotion that she thought. Whether or not those emotions were there was irrelevant. They could obviously remember which facial muscles expressed which emotion if Xigbar was anything to go by.

She sighed and gathered the garments that fell to the floor and reached for her boots to go to the washroom as she was instructed. She closed her door behind her and headed down the hall and sure enough, there was the washroom. It was labeled with the "Woman" sign, but it made her smirk: the shape of the woman was covered in an Organization's cloak. She sniggered once and pushed the door open.

It was fairly small. There was only one toilet, sink and shower-bath. Towels were stacked on the shelves, and like the rest of the castle, it was sterile white, trademark designs lining the walls. She dumped her new clothes on the counter-top of the sink and went to discover the shower. She pulled back the curtain to discover it was still a little damp.

It wasn't that hard to figure it out: the knobs were straightforward and Eredexza was intelligent. Once the room was steamy enough, she stripped and stepped in to bathe.

After a thorough cleaning, she stopped the water and stepped out to dry and clothe herself. Xigbar was right about being "bigger" than this Larxene girl. They obviously hadn't been expecting a new member, let alone a female one, so it was logical to assume that the undergarments were the other girl's. And they were tight. Her hips just about the same size, but her bottom was definitely bigger. And the sports bra, while it was secure, compressed her bustier chest that made it almost uncomfortable to breathe. The rest of the clothes fit perfectly: the leggings hugged and stretched around her toned legs and stopped just above her ankles. The cloak fit snuggly to her curves, flaring loosely where her hips started and clinging to her fit arms. The boots were just her size, too: the two inches of thick heels added to her just-above-average height.

She dried her hair as best she could before brushing it out. When she was done, she shook her fingers through the roots to allow more air between her layers of hair so that it would dry faster.

Finally, she was done. She hung the towels up to dry before stepping outside and closing the door. Waiting, leaning against the wall by the door was a man she assumed was Saïx. He was pretty tall, more slender than Xemnas, but bulkier than Xigbar, with long, light blue hair, pierced pointed ears, piercing amber-golden eyes, and an X-shaped scar right, smack between his eyes. He was incredibly handsome with strong, angular features and a quiet intensity.

He stood up straight, letting his arms fall to his sides. They studied each other for a moment, eyes measuring up the other.

Finally, Saïx opened his mouth to speak. "Follow me." His voice was deep and almost gravelly; not like Xemnas's timbre, it was gruffer, harsh. Before she could respond, he turned and walked away, expecting her to follow. She almost didn't, just to see what he would do, but decided against it. For now, she would play along.

Saïx led her through the castle. Some of the areas she recognized, most of them she didn't. She saw some of the more intimate parts of the castle, like the kitchen and dining hall, the library, some of the other washrooms. Even a door to a laboratory. She wondered what they could be studying, but then decided that she probably didn't want to know.

She was surprised by how long it took to get where they needed to be. By the time they stopped in front of a grand doorway, her hair was entirely dry.

Saïx turned and stared at her gravely. "Stay here until you are called," he ordered and turned to walk through the doors. Eredexza narrowed her eyes at his back speculatively. She decided to assume that whenever he stared at her gravely, it was just Saïx being Saïx and it was a major part of his personality.

And so he disappeared and she was left alone in a big white room with a set of big white doors. Two strange looking creatures she assumed were lesser Nobodies passed by her. Their movements were almost like struts or sashays, and she was surprised by how humanoid they looked, though she knew she shouldn't have been. The Nobodies walked on as though she weren't there, not even giving her a perfunctory glance. She guessed she was already a part of the group if the lesser ones didn't pay her any mind.

Then it was quiet and still. She sighed and leaned against the wall next to the doors and waited to be called, probably by Xemnas. She didn't see any of the others calling for her as one, Xemnas was the leader, and two, the other two probably didn't have enough authority to do so in the first place.

After what seemed like forever, though it was only five minutes, the doors opened and she was called forth. She expected her name to be called, but it was more of a calling to her dark nature that drew her forward. She knew that Xemnas would be the only one that could do as such.

She stood up straight and moved to face the doors, pulling her shoulders back and holding her chin level to the ground.

And then, she walked forward and into the Round Room.

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**So, there it is. Tell me if Xigbar is a little OOC, 'cause I'll be trying to get every character's characteristics right for this fanfic. Trying being the key word there. **

**I'll be trying to get a chapter out every weekend or so. I couldn't last week because of Midterms, but I should be able to get the chapters done during my free weekends. **

**Till next time!**


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